The Open Championship pre-tournament press conference offered a timely platform for Tiger Woods to address why the U.S. Ryder Cup captaincy was given to Keegan Bradley last week. The 82-time PGA Tour champion was widely expected to get the gig.
Tiger engaged in monthslong talks with former PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh about helming Team USA at Bethpage Black in 2025. Instead, the 38-year-old Bradley — still a contender on the PGA Tour — will become the youngest Ryder Cup captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
A slew of golf stars, including Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, expressed disbelief and surprise at the announcement.
“I heard so many people say it was going to be Tiger,” said Rahm. “Tiger at Bethpage. I'm like, ‘That makes sense, right?' He's won the U.S. Open at Bethpage, and it is Tiger Woods.”
Shortly after the announcement, Tiger released a statement citing external PGA Tour duties for preventing him from accepting the role. (There's always 2027.)
“With my new responsibilities to the Tour and time commitments involved, I felt like I would not be able to commit the time to Team USA and the players required as a captain,” Tiger posted on X. “That does not mean I wouldn’t want to captain a team in the future. If and when I feel it is the right time, I will put my hat in the ring for this committee to decide.”
At Royal Troon, Tiger elaborated on the “difficult” decision.
“My time has been so loaded with the Tour and everything and what we're trying to accomplish. I'm on so many different subcommittees that it just takes so much time in the day, and I'm always on calls.
“I told Seth that I just didn't feel like I could do the job properly. I couldn't devote the time. I barely had enough time to do what I'm doing right now, and add in the TGL starts next year, as well as the Ryder Cup. You add all that together and then with our negotiations with the PIF, all that concurrently going on at exactly the same time, there's only so many hours in the day.
“I just didn't feel like I would be doing the captaincy or the players in Team USA justice if I was the captain with everything that I have to do.”
Tiger then endorsed Bradley, who was controversially left off the U.S. team that was routed by the Europeans in Rome last September.
“I think Keegan is going to be a great leader. He's very passionate about what he does. He's very passionate about the event. I think that this is going to be probably a turnover year for us for the captaincies, whether it's the captain itself and his vice captains. I think this is the natural progression, one we've been looking forward to, and I think it's that year.”
When asked about his interest in vice-captaining, Tiger said he's yet to be asked. At his official announcement last week, Bradley — who, like Tiger, is training for the Open — said he's open to bringing aboard anybody who can help the cause, including the 15-time major champ and LIV Golf members.
If you're wondering what exactly Tiger is talking about in his explanation, and why the 48-year-old — who will not complete a single non-major PGA Tour event this year — is so busy, here's a quick rundown of Tiger's off-course responsibilities. (Of course, this doesn't include his burgeoning career as Proud Golf Dad.)
Tiger Woods' PGA Tour positions
Vice President, PGA Tour Enterprises
In January, the PGA Tour received up to $3 billion in funding from the newly-created Strategic Sports Group (SSG) — a consortium of American sports owners, including Boston Red Sox owner John Henry and Arthur Blanks of the Atlanta Falcons. Numerous celebrities, including LeBron James and Drake, came on as strategic investors.
SSG formulated Enterprises, a for-profit branch devoted to marketing the sport. Tiger was named VP.
The investment doubled as a buoy for the PGA Tour amidst negotiations with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, which finances LIV Golf.
Co-Founder, TMRW Sports/TGL
Along with Rory McIlroy and former Golf Channel executive Mike McCarley, Tiger is a co-founder of TMRW Sports — a venture aimed at creating pioneering tech-infused sports experiences. Its first major initiative, TMRW Golf League (TGL), will launch in 2025.
TGL envisions an arcade-style golf competition set in a custom arena under construction in Florida. The first three events will air on ESPN and ESPN+ in prime time slots in January. Six four-person teams of PGA Tour stars will represent various cities.
Stephen Curry, Lewis Hamilton, Shohei Ohtani, Serena Williams, Justin Bieber, DJ Khaled, and Tiger's business partner Justin Timberlake are among the celebrity investors in TGL. You can read more about TGL here.
PGA Tour policy board
In the aftermath of last year's shadow negotiations-into-framework agreement announcement last June, the blindsided PGA Tour players made a concerted effort to reclaim behind-the-scenes executive power. A new policy board was formulated, featuring Tiger, McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Peter Malnati, and Adam Scott as the player reps. Joe Ogilvie is a board liaison. (McIlroy stepped down last fall; his spot was filled by Webb Simpson.)
Tiger hosted PIF, SSG, and PGA Tour reps in the Bahamas for meetings before the Masters.
PIF transaction subcommittee
In the spring, McIlroy's efforts to rejoin the policy board were rebuffed. The Northern Irishman believed his personal relationships with the Saudis — especially PIF chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan — would behoove the PGA Tour in LIV talks.
McIlroy insinuated that certain board members — reportedly Tiger, Patrick Cantlay, and Jordan Spieth — were at odds with his vision for the PGA Tour as a global enterprise that embraces PIF's bottomless capital.
So, a transaction subcommittee was created specifically tasked with dealing with PIF. McIlroy, Tiger, Scott, Ogilvie, Henry, and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan comprise the committee..
The group has met regularly with PIF reps for several weeks. Tiger participated in a “big boy” summit in New York in June.
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